12.  The applicant was born in 1942 and lives in Benevento.
13.  On 15 July 1994 Mrs P., the applicant’s mother, brought proceedings in the Benevento Magistrate’s Court, sitting as an employment tribunal, seeking acknowledgment of her right to an invalidity pension (pensione di inabilità) and an attendance allowance (indennità di accompagnamento).
14.  On 23 July 1994 the Magistrate’s Court set the case down for the first hearing on 11 March 1996. On that day the court appointed an expert and adjourned the proceedings to a hearing on 9 April 1997.
15.  In a judgment of the same day, the text of which was deposited with the registry on 13 June 1997, the court dismissed Mrs P’s claim.
16.  On 29 July 1997 Mrs P. lodged an appeal with the Naples District Court. The president of the court appointed a judge rapporteur and set the appeal down for hearing on 30 April 2001.
17.  In the meantime, also on 29 July 1997, Mrs P. died. According to information provided by the applicant’s lawyer on 18 March 1998, when he attempted to file with the court registry the document stating his client’s intention to continue the proceedings as heir, an employee of the Naples District Court registry told him to come back in the year 2000. His reason for this was that the hearing would not be until 2001 and he would otherwise have to waste hours looking in hundreds of cases listed for April 2001. On 25 January 2000 the applicant lodged a document declaring his intention to continue the proceedings as heir. A hearing was listed for 14 February 2002.
18.  In a judgment of 16 January 2003, the text of which was deposited with the registry on 21 March 2003, the court noted that a further expert’s report showed that Mrs P. had been suffering from a number of ailments which rendered her totally unfit for work and made it necessary to hire a permanent home help. Accordingly, it granted Mrs P.’s claim from 1 June 1996 until the date of her death.
19.  On 3 October 2001 the applicant lodged an application with the Rome Court of Appeal under Law no. 89 of 24 March 2001, known as the “Pinto Act”, complaining of the excessive length of the above-described proceedings. The applicant requested the court to conclude that there had been a breach of Article 6 § 1 of the Convention and to order the Italian State to pay compensation for the non-pecuniary damage sustained, which he had assessed at 30,000,000 Italian lire (15,493.71 euros (EUR)), plus an unspecified amount in costs and expenses.
20.  In a decision of 7 March 2002, the text of which was deposited with the registry on 6 May 2002, the Court of Appeal found that the length of the proceedings had been excessive for the following reasons:
“... The first-instance proceedings ended after approximately three years, whereas the appeal lodged in 1997 is still pending.
The Convention principle that everyone’s case must be examined within a reasonable time must be deemed to have been breached.
The length of the proceedings in question does not comply with the reasonable-time requirement because – given the subject matter – they should not have exceeded two years at first instance and eighteen months on appeal since the case is not a complex one.
No particularly repetitive conduct such as to prolong the proceedings can be attributed to the applicant.
It is undeniable that the judicial system – on account of the relevant rules of procedure and the lack of staff – prevents judicial proceedings from being disposed of rapidly, despite the intervention of the legislature, which has introduced specific reforms that have not, however, succeeded in having a decisive effect on the ‘slow workings’ of justice.
Having regard to the foregoing, the Court can only acknowledge that the applicant has incurred non-pecuniary damage as a result of the mental distress and the inevitable state of prolonged anxiety suffered by having to wait approximately seven years for the end of proceedings relating to the right to an attendance allowance.
Considering, on the basis of the above-mentioned factors, that there was a one-year delay at first instance and a three-year delay on appeal, damages may be determined, on an equitable basis, as currently standing at 1,000 euros plus interest accruing from the date on which this decision is deposited.”
The Court of Appeal also awarded EUR 800 for costs and expenses. The decision was served on 20 December 2002 and became final in February 2003.
21.  In a letter of 8 January 2003, the applicant informed the Court of the outcome of the domestic proceedings and asked it to resume its examination of the application.
22.  When payment was not forthcoming, on 26 May 2004 the applicant served notice on the authorities to pay the amounts due. When that proved unsuccessful he applied for a garnishee order, which was granted on 12 May 2005, against the Bank of Italy. According to the information provided by the applicant at the hearing on 29 June 2005, the Court of Appeal’s decision had not yet been enforced.